My fiance and I are getting married in Peru. He is Peruvian and I am Canadian. Neither of us is Catholic and so we have chosen not to have the religiious wedding in the church. Here in Peru, and I think all over Latin America, there is the custom of having a smaller, more informal civil wedding performed by a judge, and then a lavish church wedding. I am getting so frustrated because for me, as a North American, one wedding is the norm, and is special wherever it takes place, whether its in a church, on the beach, in a park, etc. I keep getting comments from everyone like "Oh, its just a civil wedding? Well then you don't need a veil/wedding gown/bouquet/bridesmaids/etc. etc." It seems like nobody thinks our wedding is very important because its not a religious wedding! For us, its our only wedding and we want it to be special, so we are including all those things. But it bothers me that others make those comments, and I never know how to respond. Anybody else in the same situation?? Sorry, just felt like venting!